We do a national conference once a year. And we’ve been doing anywhere between three to six regional conferences a year.

Those take a lot of organization.

And energy.

And there are lots of moving parts to synchronize. I wonder if there’s a better option to reach as many people in person as possible?

I recently attended a book signing in Dallas. It was held in the evening at a nicer private home. There were about thirty people or so in attendance. The author gave a short lecture based on one of the chapters in his book. Then he took questions, and people mingled.

I’m wondering if we should do something similar.

Instead of a mere book signing, however, I wonder if we could start doing “Free Grace Evenings.” It would be simpler than a regional. One speaker would fly into a city for a night of lectures. We would meet in a private home or a church. The speaker would give a few short messages (30 min each?) based on his book or some topic, from 7-9 pm or so. Then he’d fly back home the next day—or if it was the weekend, maybe speak at a church.

Yes, there’d be less content than a regional conference. But it would be much easier and cheaper to organize. Speakers would have more flexibility to work it into their schedules (instead of it always being a Fri night/Saturday). And it would mean that Bob, Ken, and I (and possibly other speakers) could hold many different meetings around the country at the same time. One month Bob could be speaking in Salt Lake City, Ken could be in Pittsburgh, and I could be in Nashville….or (sigh) even Honolulu if I absolutely must.